All the News, Reviews, Guides and Reports on Electric Cars

The UK’s Autocar website reported this week that Volkswagen could introduce an all-electric four-door version of its iconic Beetle. The model, if given the green light, would use Volkswagen’s MEB electric-vehicle architecture, the underpinning of an entire line of VW EVs going into production as soon as next year. VW design boss Klaus Bischoff said the company will focus first on electric cars with the highest potential for sales in the next year or two—before deciding on an electric Beetle. Volkswagen continues to garner headlines for concept and one-off electric vehicles while remaining a marginal player in the current EV market.

After two days behind the wheel of the 2019 Jaguar I-Pace in early June, we can confirm that the British automaker has delivered a stylish, highly capable luxury EV. With its 90 kilowatt-hour battery pack providing 240 miles of range, and an electric propulsion system capable of zooming to 60 miles per hour in 4.5 seconds, the I-Pace sets a new standard for a long-range EV from an established luxury automaker. While we expected the I-Pace to be a beast on the road and offer a high degree of luxury appointments in the cabin, we discovered four things that surprised us.

Hyundai unveiled the Kona Electric in late March, so we’ve known the formula for its upcoming all-electric crossover for a few months. It’s an attractive yet sedate crossover EV that will likely offer the most range among a new class of affordable big-battery electric vehicles that includes the Chevrolet Bolt and Tesla Model 3. The essential piece of missing information has been the price. The best clue yet about the cost of the Kona Electric, which is due in California in late 2018, came a few weeks ago when Hyundai announced that the crossover EV will sell for the equivalent of about $40,000 in Norway.

With more than 250,000 BMW plug-in electric vehicles already on global roads, the makers of the ultimate driving machine are now planning to make EV technology an integral part of its brand and production process. BMW is emboldened by seeing sales of its plug-in cars increase by nearly 50 percent this year. “We are preparing our car architectures and our factories to flexibly integrate this technology,” said Oliver Zipse, BMW’s chief of production. “For us, creating that flexibility is the most efficient way to profitably offer electric cars.”

Nearly a year since the Tesla Model 3 went into production, road-test reviews of the all-electric compact are revealing a rash of quality problems. The most damning of the bad news comes from Consumer Reports, which reported braking distances that were “far worse than any contemporary car,” and from Edmunds, the car shopping website, which wrote: “Sixteen weeks into ownership, we’ve had so many issues with our Model 3 that we started a Google Doc to catalog various warning messages, necessary screen resets, and general failures.”

Amid global economic growth and growing geopolitical tensions, the U.S. price of oil this week topped $70 for the first time since 2014. With a resulting increase in gas prices by about 50 cents a gallon compared to last year, interest in electric cars is on the rise.

Our visit this week to the floor of the Beijing Motor Show revealed how the center of gravity in the electric-vehicle world is shifting to China. While growth in EV sales in the United States continues on a steady but incremental path—roughly one-percent of the American vehicle market—sales of electric cars and plug-in hybrids in China is expected to leap from 700,000 vehicles in 2017 to more than 2 million “new energy vehicles” by next year. The number of vehicles with plugs at Auto China 2018 show was staggering, even as the current presence of EVs on Beijing’s roads is minimal.

Many electric car shoppers worry that buying an EV might mean replacing an expensive battery after a few years of use. Those worries are unfounded for a number of reasons. First, electric car batteries are manufactured to last the lifetime of the vehicle—with very few reported incidents of total battery failure. The more common (but still rare) occurrence is a significant reduction in range over time. Regardless, the key to putting your mind at ease is a better understanding of the warranties that come with all electric cars and plug-in hybrids.

China said today that it would soon make it easier for foreign automakers to fully own auto factories in the country. China has long required major carmakers to partner with a Chinese firm before building a factory. The rules will be relaxed as soon as late 2018 for makers of electric vehicles—while companies producing conventional vehicles would continue to face ownership restrictions for about five years.

Every couple years, the notion that increased use of electric cars will bring down the U.S. electric grid is revisited. The alarmist stories are ironic because utility companies want to see a steep rise in EVs—because cars that use electricity for fuel represent a new revenue source, as well as a means to shift demand for electricity to hours when the grid is underutilized.